Title: Complicit
Author: Stephanie Kuehn
Series: Standalone
Genre: YA Contemporary, Thriller
Format: Hardcover, 256 pages
Release Date: June 24th 2014
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Source: eARC received from publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review

Purchase
Amazon | Indigo | TBD | Goodreads








Two years ago, sixteen-year-old Jamie Henry breathed a sigh of relief when a judge sentenced his older sister to juvenile detention for burning down their neighbor’s fancy horse barn. The whole town did. Because Crazy Cate Henry used to be a nice girl. Until she did a lot of bad things. Like drinking. And stealing. And lying. Like playing weird mind games in the woods with other children. Like making sure she always got her way. Or else.

But today Cate got out. And now she’s coming back for Jamie.

Because more than anything, Cate Henry needs her little brother to know the truth about their past. A truth she’s kept hidden for years. A truth she’s not supposed to tell.

Trust nothing and no one as you race toward the explosive conclusion of this gripping psychological thriller from the William C. Morris Award-winning author of Charm & Strange.


Complicit was a book I picked up for review in a hunch. I really did not know what it was about but i was compelled by the aspect of a good mystery and family drama. So when I started reading this book I was hooked from the very beginning and it did not stop until the very end.

Complicit follows Jaime, a young boy who is adopted and has a sister in jail for some very unsettling things she did a few years back. I will not say what those things are because I honestly think it added to the mystery. But damn this girl is MESSED UP, but it was great to read. I loved not knowing if Cat, his sister, was coming after him or going after someone else. But i knew there was more to her story than she let on. And boy was i right. I will admit that I kind of figured out the end early but it didn't diminish my enjoyment of the book because I didn't know if I was right or wrong but I knew something was up, and I wanted to know what it was!

Jaime was  great character because he was an unreliable one. Although he knew his sister was bad, he also loved her and wanted to be around her because of their past. She remembered their mother, who was killed when Jaime was very young and therefore they both got adopted. Unreliable narrators are some of my favorites narrators, if they are done well. And Jaime was done very well. I wanted to believe everything he said, but I knew he did not remember everything and his past was hazy so that made him one interesting person to tell the story. Cat, his sister on the other hand was also an interesting character but I found she was very 2 dimensional as a character, but happily she became quite an interesting character, especially near the end when everything was revealed. Her relationship with Jaime was explore in more detail and their past was hashed out as well, which answered A LOT of questions.

Overall, Complicit was a great read with many twists and turns and characters that stay with you long after you finish reading the book. I will say that the end was a big loose for my liking but overall I loved how it ended. This book is for all who love a good mystery and some crazy characters that are worth reading!